Using Color Values in LEADTOOLS
The standard Windows values for COLORREF(OLE_COLOR) represent either red, green, and blue color values, or an index into the bitmap's palette. A COLORREF value with the format $00BBGGRR represents the blue, green, and red color values for the specified pixel, where $BB is the blue value, $GG is the green value and $RR is the red value. If $01000000 is set in the COLORREF value ($010000ZZ), the lower 8 bits ($ZZ) represent an index into the bitmap's palette, which holds the color value. You can specify a COLORREF value (the return value of the RGB function), or you can specify a palette index as explained in Using Palette Indexes As Color Values.
In the Document/Medical toolkits, the COLORREF value may represent a 16-bit grayscale value if the pBitmap is a 12 or 16-bit grayscale. So that the value is not confused with an RGB value, the COLORREF_GRAY16 mask ($04000000) is set. In this case ($0400YYYY), the lower 16 bits ($YYYY) of the COLORREF value represent the 16-bit grayscale value. ($0400FFFF is 16-bit white and $04000000is 16-bit black.) This is not a standard Windows value. Therefore, LEADTOOLS elements will recognize a COLORREF having this format, but Windows elements will not. For information on converting from a 16-bit value, refer to Converting 16-bit Grayscale Values.
VCL uses the TColor enumerated data type that covers the values that can be returned by the Windows RGB macro. To convert from a TColor value to a COLORREF value, call the ColorToRGB method. To convert from a COLORREF value to a TColor value, cast the COLORREF value to a TColor type.